Folding door



Aug. 28, 1945.

F. A. SCHlLLlNG, JR 2,383,744

FOLDING DOOR Filed Dec. 14, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 %WE/Viva' &cote/CK R.sa/lu m@ Je a, v Ma da/c oe/ver Aug.. 28, 1945. F. A. SCHILLING. JR v 33 FOLDING DOOR Filed c. 14, 1943 s'sheets-heet 2 v v J E %mu f fac'E/A ESava/MG, .le

ar m 4 /777'0eNcy 2 1945- F. A SHILLING, JR 3 7 v FLDING -DO.OIR

Filed Dec, 14; 1943 3 s heets-sheet 3 Ils %W I M Figure l.

Patented Aug. 28, 1945 I FrederickA. Schilling; Jr., Va ncouver,.BritishtColumbia., Canada.

Application December 14, 1943 Serial No. 514357" (Cl Look-21 3) 8Claims.

Mv' invention 'relates to improvements' in folding doors which areparticularly adapted for use in hangars or other buildings whereabnormally* wide openings'are to be provided with closures.

The objects of the invention are to provide means whereby the door whenin lowered or closed position will ..be supported against Swinging'movement without having recourse to the use of door jambs, mullions orother side edge steps; to provide a structure whereby the door andpartsare maintained below the lintel to which it' is Suspended,` so thatwhen a number-of doors` are used to close a Wide -opening such as in* a;hangar, no space is required between roof trussesand' above the chord ofthe truss or linte] toaccommodate an part of the door structure.

Further objects are to provide means whereby the opened` door makes itpossible for heating de-- vi`ces', li`ghting equipment and particularlthe monorail hoisting equipment to be placed well forward of'thebuilding and facilitates the repairing' and "servic`ing of planes closeto the closed doors. `Firthermore, since the doorsup- ,port or 'lintelcan be bracketed out from the front' side' of the front truss 'and becarried above its chord when' in open position the chord of all the'trusses can be three or more feet' lower than is possible with othertypes of Suspended doors, thus saving a similar height in the' finishedbuilding, reducing Wind stresses on walls and structura'l stresses oncolumnsetc. andeecting appreciable saving in the cost of construction ofthe building.

The invention contemplates a door 'formed of a plurality of hingedpanels and a truss for stiffenng and holding said panels in a singleplane when lowered to closed position, as will be more 'fully describedin the following specificaton and shown in the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Fig. 1 is an inside elevational View of the in- Vention.

Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 3 is an insideelevational View showing the door partly raised.

Fig..4"i's a sectional View taken on the line i -4' o'f Figure 3, 4

Fi'g. 5` is atransverse view of the door in raised position. V j

Fgs, 6", 7 and 8 are detail views of the trusses and interconnectingspreaders.

Fig. 9 is a secti'on'al' view taken on the line- QF-Bof Figure I. i 4

Fig lflis a detail View of the suspension cable receivingbrack'et. p Inthe' d'rawings like characters of reference indicate correspondingpartsin each figure. "The numeral `l` indicates the sides of an opening,2`a lintel' over 'the opening and 3 the ceiling or roofstructureosubstantiallylevel with the un'- derside ot the lintel'.

The numeral 5 indicates generall'y a door which is made up of' panels 6which are hinged together with hinges 'I' and 8, the hinge's 'I conn'ecti'ng a pair of adjace'nt panels and being on the inside of .thedoor and the h'inges 8 connecting adiacent' panels and being on theoutside of the door, so that the panels will fol'd together in 'Zig VZag fashion.

door. .Extendingrearwardly from the upper extremi'ty'oi the door andlevel with the hinge 9 is apairof of spaced shafts l l which arerockingly` mounted below the'ceiling 3 01: any convenient roofstructure; From. each shaft ll is a cantilever truss generally indicatedby the numeral z and' which consists of truss sections !3, I'd, l5 and'IE connected' together by hinge pins |8.' The sections `l4 and |`5' aretwice the length of the sections |3 and !B and are eachpivotally'mounted' ona shaft 211, which in turn is swingingly mounted'on a hinge ZI Secured toa door panel 6, s'eedetail in Fi'gures 6', 7'and 8.

The shafts 20` extend beyond the outer member of their respectivetrussmembers !4, !5 and IG and' each' pair'is connected'together'by aspreader 22 which serves to keep said shafts at right angles to thejoint between adjacent door panels 6 during the initi'al openingmovement and also each provided with a U-shaped jaw 29 at their upperextremity through which a portion of a suspension cable 25 passes whenthe door is in closed and partly closed position. The projection of thejaws 29 is such that When the cable is free from lifting strain, as whenthe door is closed, the cable is thrust inwardly of the buildingand outof alignme'nt as shown in Figure 9, so that the initial lifting stranwill slightly tend to straighten the bracket 28 and.` its "inherentspring tension will throw the adjacent hinges 'l outwardly thus startingthe Collapse or folding movement of the door.

ried forwardly of the hinges 8 counterweights 30 carried upon arms si,see Figures', 3, 4; 5 and 9, are provided, which are secured to theinners'ide 3 i of the panels 6 immediatelyabove its hinges Obviouslywhen the trusses' lz are 'fully' e`x`- i tended in a vertical positionas when the door is closed, they will aord ,a support to the dooragainst either inward or .outward pressure and any thrust inwardly oroutwardly on the door will be transmitted to the shafts ll which` inefiect become abutments or bases for theitrusses !2 against the ceilingor'otherjstructure to which I thespaced shafts ll are mounte'dLj` Sinceno side stationary 'jambs or side edge supports are necessary for thedoor', hangerfr' other wide openings can be effectively closed by aplurality of similar doors allset ith adjacent side 'edges substantiallyin contact with each other 'and said doors may bedopened sefparately orcollectively as desired, leaving one totally un-.

obstructed opening. y What I claim as my invention is' 1. A folding dooradapted forfhanging from' said truss being made. upo f flhing e jointe'dsecf; tions, some of said sections being 'connected to some of thepanels. v

2. A folding door adapted for hanging from one' edge, said doorcomprising a plurality of horizontal panels hingedly connectedjtogetheralong their abutting edges, a truss'extending across some of the several'panels adapted, to hold said panels in a single plane when in closed"posi'- tion, said truss being formed of hinge jointed sections, some ofsaid sectionsjbeing connected to 'some of the 'panels 'andadapted tobecon nected to a stationary part adjac'ent one edge of the door. V ,4 p

3. A folding door adaptedfo'r hanging by'ne' edge, from a stationarypart adjacnt "said edge,

said door comprising a plurality of panels:

hingedly connected together adjacent their abutting edges, a trussextending acrossjthe panels at a right angle to their abutting edges,`said As a means of counterweighting the panels 6 when they are being carsaid truss being formed of hinge jointed sections,

some of said sections being mounted on shafts 'extending perpendicularlyfrom the plane of the door, said shafts being hingedly connected at oneend to some of the panels.

' 5) A folding door adapted for hanging by one edge from a stationarypart adjacent said edge, said door comprising a plurality of panelshingedly connected together adjacent their abut- 'ting edges, a trussextending across said panels,

said truss being formed of hinge jointed sections, sornjeiof saidsections being mounted on shafts extending vertically from the plane ofthe door said shafts being hingedly connected at one end adjacent anedge of some of the panels.

e (i. A folding door adapted for hanging by one edge from. a stationarypart adjacent said edge, said door comprsing a plurality of paneishingedly connected together adjacent their abutting edges, a trussextending across said panels, said truss being formed of hinge jointedsections, sorne of said sections being mounted on shafts extendingvertically from the plane of the door,

' said shafts being hingedly connected at one end to some of the panels,and a shait adapted to be fixed to said stationary part and one of saidtruss sections being connected to said shaft.

:7. A folding door adapted for hanging by one edge from a stationarypart adjacent said edge, said door comprising a plurality of panelshingedly connected together adjacent' their abutting edges, a trussextending across said' panels, said truss being formed of hinge jointedsections, some of said sections being mounted on shafts extendingvertically from the plane of the door, said shafts being hingedlyconnected at one end adjacent an edge of some of the panels, and a shaftadapted to be fixed to said stationary part and one of said trusssections being connected to said shaft.

8. A folding door ada pted for hanging from oneedge to a stationary partadjacent said edge, said door comprising a plurality of hinge connectedpanels, a pair of trusses extending across the hinge line of saidpanels, said trusses being formed of hinge connected sections, some ofsaid sections being mounted on shafts extending perpendicularly from theplane of the door and a spreader connecting a shaft of one truss to ashaft of another truss. v

- FREDERICK A. SCHILLING, JR.

